Reese Witherspoon Cuts Ribbon to Officially Open Planet Hollywood

Actress Reese Witherspoon joined Planet Hollywood founder Robert Earl and landlord Mickey Mouse to officially open the new Disney Springs restaurant Friday. The three participated in a ribbon cutting ceremony on the red carpet in front of the recently refurbished restaurant, which now resembles a large planetarium.

Since opening, the restaurant has been going by the name Planet Hollywood Observatory, but don't be surprised if the company drops the Observatory from the name -- it will just be referred to as a Planet Hollywood that happens to be housed in an observatory, to fulfill a Disney Springs storyline. And technically, it's a planetarium, and an impressive one, given the massive screen that shows music videos to the diners. But Planet Hollywood Planetarium sounds redundant.

Following the ceremony, Earl took Witherspoon to a private reception on the restaurant's second level, where he introduced her to media and local VIPs. When they passed me, Earl told Witherspoon that I was a restaurant critic, "And he's trashed me several times."

Only twice, I told her.

By the way, the video projections since I reviewed the restaurant recently have gotten more elaborate and impressive. There's a medley of numbers by the Beatles with cartoon visuals that is worth going in for all by itself.